Of the muscle car era...

[PxTx]

I'm not aware of any stock type cars which were hometown heroes. All the hero cars were motor swapped or modified in some way. The sleepers worked hard to mask these mods, but I can't paint the picture with broad strokes. It really was the people and what they did with the cars.

Actually, just like the Street Outlaws today- it was about who could manage the road and traction. There were plenty of Tri-Five guys beating "modern" 396 Camros (insert any new car here) in 1969 and they often became legendary races which stories get repeated around local cruise nights today.

Motion cars bridge both sides of this example. I struggle to answer this question with just a car- as I cannot separate any example from the men I know who made the cars so relevant in my area.